Hello, everyone, and nice to see you again. We hope the weekend was invigorating and enjoyable, because a new working week has officially begun. And, as you know, this means the deluge of meetings and deadlines and what-not has returned. It may be summertime but, as always, there is much to be done. The world just keeps on spinning, you know? So join us as we fend off the pressures with another cup of stimulation and attack the to-do list. Have a great day and do stay in touch…

More tax aversion: Hospira has emerged as a bidder for Danone’s medical-nutrition unit, which makes food for the sick, young and elderly, in a deal that could be worth about $5 billion and is the latest in a flurry of tax inversion deals designed to sidestep U.S. taxes, The Wall Street Journal reports. To qualify as an inversion, shareholders of the acquired company must receive stock amounting to at least 20% of the resulting entity. Hospira, which has a market value of $8.6 billion, will need to fund a sizable part of any bid with stock.

In a quiet shake-up, Ranbaxy Laboratories has named a new head of global quality and a new head of global research and development, The Economic Times writes. The executive committee-level changes come just a few months after Sun Pharma agreed to acquire Ranbaxy from its Japanese parent, Daiichi Sankyo, in a $4-billion deal.

A court date: Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific have been at odds for nearly a decade, engaged in legal wrangling over a megadeal that went awry in 2004. Now that dispute has quietly resurfaced, potentially teeing up a multibillion-dollar decision, The New York Times says. At issue is whether Guidant, which is now owned by Boston Scientific, had violated an earlier merger agreement with Johnson & Johnson, allowing it to fetch a higher price from Boston Scientific.

The black market: A key test of how much responsibility shippers like Fed and United Parcel Service have for contents of packages they deliver begins this week in federal court. The Justice Department indicted FedEx earlier this month, charging conspiracy to distribute controlled substances because of its alleged role in transporting painkillers and other prescription drugs sold illegally. The Wall Street Journal explains that the crackdowns mark an aggressive push by the government to combat the prescription-drug black market.

The FDA rejected a painkiller dispensive device developed by AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, which disclosed the setback late last week, TheStreet writes.

Reckitt Benckiser plans to spin off its pharma business, including a heroin-addiction treatment, in the next 12 months as sales slide under pressure from rival copycat versions of the drug, according to Bloomberg News.

Novartis says the European Commission has approved a glaucoma treatment called Simbrinza that will be marketed by its Alcon eyecare unit, Reuters tells us.

A leading group of oncologists is warning that a proposed European Union plan to regulate informed consent could make cancer research impossible and add a significant burden to both doctors and cancer patients, Pharma Times reports.

AstraZeneca has signed up Roche and Qiagen to develop two separate diagnostic tests, both using simple blood samples, to identify patients who will benefit from its lung cancer drugs, Reuters reports.

Several drug makers have gone to court in India to challenge recent cuts ordered by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority that relied on provisions provided for “extraordinary circumstances.” according to The Business Standard.

About Pharmalot

Pharmalot explores the fast-moving, complicated world that develops and markets medicines – and the drug makers that are attempting to replenish their pipelines while grappling with pricing and regulatory dictates, among many other challenges. Writer Ed Silverman has covered the pharmaceutical industry for nearly two decades and has closely followed the many hurdles facing drug companies as they move ideas from the laboratory to the medicine chest. He started Pharmalot while at The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and previously worked at New York Newsday and Investor’s Business Daily. Email Ed Silverman at ed.silverman@wsj.com, and follow him on Twitter @Pharmalot.